Oscars: Short films by SRFTI students to compete in the Best Live Action Short film category

Five students of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute (SRFTI) have made a short film that will compete at the 95th Academy Awards in the Best Live Action Short film category. The film, The Horse from Heaven, was made as part of the institute’s coursework, where the students are asked to make a film on their thoughts within three to four days. Later, the film secured the first position at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival – one of the two Indian film festivals responsible for sending Indian short films to the Oscars. 

The 15-minute-long film was made by Maharshi Kashyap, Arnab Laha, Arnab Bora, Pulkit Philip, Nilanjana Rudra, and Somnath Gogoi. The film deals with the difference between dreams and reality. It was conceptualized and directed by Maharshi Kashyap. Somnath Gogoi initially started the production works, but he then met with an accident. Then Arnab Bora handled the production. Nilanjana Rudra was the executive producer and Pulkit Philip was the editor. 

Meanwhile, the protagonist of the film is a donkey. As per sources, the production house faced problems in controlling the animal. The film won many awards in international film festivals including the Kolkata International Film Festival and Bangalore International Film Festival. The Assamese name of the film is Mur Ghurar Duronto Goti. the film delves into the zone of dark comedy, magic realism, absurdism, and so on. 

In an interview with Times Of India, Maharshi said that the team wanted to capture a cinematic representation of the 14th-century Assamese folk art form, Ojapali.